After raucous debate, EU passes bill requiring restoration of 20% of degraded natural areas

European lawmakers, after an unexpectedly bitter political battle, approved a bill on Wednesday that would require European Union countries to restore 20 percent of all degraded nature areas within their borders on land and at sea.

The measure, a key element of the bloc’s Green Deal environmental initiative, passed with 336 votes in favor, 300 against and 13 abstentions. It now goes to a committee of representatives from the E.U. executive, Parliament and national governments.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/climate/europe-nature-restoration-law.html

Protected Canadian lake chosen as reference point for start of Anthropocene Era

Geologists have selected a lake in Canada as the best site to mark the start of a new epoch dominated by humanity’s influence on Earth, known as the Anthropocene.

The announcement marks a big development in a long-running effort to declare that we have entered a new geological epoch, although there are three more votes before the site can be formally ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2381867-canadian-lake-selected-as-site-to-mark-the-start-of-the-anthropocene

"We can't keep going like this": Reservation system will return at Yosemite NP next year

When Jeff Harris arrived at Yosemite National Park last week, the Maryland resident had already heard the horror stories of hours-long lines at entrance stations and packed parking lots at the famed waterfalls, sequoia groves and mountain overlooks this summer.

So he did what he could to avoid the crowds. He, his wife, two adult daughters and son-in-law, who were staying just outside of Yosemite’s southern gate, made sure they were among the first to enter the park each morning. On all five days visiting, the family got in before 6:30 a.m.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/yosemite-reservations-18173472.php

UPDATE: reservations will be coming back next year, it appears: https://www.ksro.com/2023/07/10/yosemite-national-park-bringing-back-reservations-but-not-until-next-year/